While we here in Europe start to get excited for the battle for the 2026 MXGP championship, with names like Herlings, Febvre, Gajser, Coenen, de Wolf, Vialle and many more, across the Atlantic in USA, they are enjoying a similar type of deep field and the 2026 AMA 450 supercross championship is no disappointing.

Of course, we have our “veterans” in Herlings, Febvre and Gajser, but how about soon to be 32-year-old, Ken Roczen, the 2011 MX2 world champion? A guy who won a world title before any of our current beloved GP riders and a rider who moved to America a long, long time ago.

Now, as this current season heads into the second half of the season, and makes its way to Daytona this coming weekend, Roczen is still well placed to try and pick up his first ever AMA supercross championship on the big bike.

Four in the main event last weekend, fourth in the championship points and following Round 7 in Arlington, Roczen has accumulated 131 points. He trails the points leader, Hunter Lawrence, by 18 points and is only 2 points behind 3rd-place Cooper Webb. Here is how his season has gone to date.

Round One - A1

“Anaheim is done and dusted. We had a really good day the entire day in qualifying, the heat race, and the main,” said Roczen. “We got first in the heat race and then went to the main where we had a really good battle with [the race leader]. We pretty much kept the same gap for the entire race and [both of us] put a big gap on third. We just rode our own race. The track was really tricky, very slippery and it broke down, so it was very easy to make mistakes. I'm really happy to get away with a second place here; it's a great start to the season and now the focus is on the next round.”

Round Two - San Diego

“We had a really good day overall,” said Roczen. “We were third in qualifying, we won our heat race, and we had an insane battle throughout the main event. The race leader and I went back and forth a couple of times. I led a bunch of laps in the beginning, and I ended up third, but not far off the leaders. I lacked just 3 to 5 percent, you know? It's very minimal, but I definitely wasn't the best guy tonight. Overall, we had a really good night. I'm not going to complain about a podium by any means. So, the second round is done and dusted and we're looking forward to Anaheim 2.”

Round Three - A2

“Anaheim 2 was not quite the night that we wanted. My starts just weren't there, and I made a big mistake on lap two and went down,” said Roczen. “We charged from 21st to eighth and left it all out on the track. That was as far up as I could [reach]. Luckily, I didn't lose too many points, so on that side of things it's all good. I'm pumped on the effort we all put in, and sometimes that's just the way it goes. So, we're going to try again in Houston.”

Round Four - Houston

“I was comfortable on the track [early], although when the racing came around the track was pretty sketchy; it was very high-speed and we had a couple odd obstacles that enhanced that a little bit,” said Roczen. “I started off the first Race with the holeshot, or a near holeshot. [From there I] was in the lead the whole time and was able to win that one. That felt really good to start the night off with a good result like that. The second Race was a little bit tougher, as I didn't get off the gate as well. But I was able to ride my way up to fifth, and we ended up finishing there. That it made it tight for the for the overall going into Race three; I was tied with [one rider], and [another rider] was two points behind me… I knew what I had to do and where I had to be [at the checkered flag] to be able to pull off the overall. There was a lot of madness going on in that last one. Going over the finish line jump on the first lap [I had] a near-collision and it was very sketchy, but we all got out of it good. Then the battle started. In the middle of the Race, I lost a couple of spots because I missed the rhythm section, and I ended up being right behind [the rider I was tied with in event points]. Unfortunately, that put us from first to third [overall]. I don't want to complain, because it is a podium, but it is tough when [a win is] right in front of you and you just didn't get it. Nonetheless, we’re happy to finish it off healthy here on the podium. The championship is looking really good, too.”

Round Five - Glendale

“Glendale, Arizona, you have been a hell of a [good] time,” Roczen said back at the rig. “We always want to get better. Our riding has been so good over these last few weeks, but we were lacking in the starts. So, we did a bunch of testing this week for the first time in a long time. I'm glad that we did, because it shows that we want to get better, and starts nowadays are so important. Tonight, we got a good start in the main event, and we just had overall such good momentum. My motorcycle worked great, and we were able to take it all the way to the checkered flag. [It was] a phenomenal first place for me as part of my family, Griff, my oldest, and my wife were here. So, to do it again in Arizona, this is my fourth win [here], I kind of have to let it sink in a little bit on the flight home and enjoy this one.”

Round Six - Seattle

“Overall, we had a pretty dang good day, honestly,” said Roczen. “This is always a crazy venue to go to just because the track gets so gnarly. But we had a really good heat race going, won that one, and had first gate pick [for the main]. I got off to a decent start and honestly was putting on a strong charge in the middle of the race and [among the top three riders] we were all bunched up and riding really well. But the track did deteriorate really, really quickly. I had a couple of bad laps there towards the end, and I made a mistake [and I] couldn’t double before the whoops section. That just really cost me and allowed [another rider] to get way too close to me and he pulled a move [that put us both on the ground]. He came over and apologized, and I have no hard feelings towards it at all; I think it was a little bit of a [brief mental lapse]. It's just unfortunate with situations like that. We pulled the shorter end of the stick until I got going again, and then the main was over. We ended up not with the greatest result, but we're only 11 points down. Overall, we rode well all day and had a really good main going, so I really can’t be too mad.”

Round Seven - Arlington

Suffer fest last night in Arlington. I got progressively more ill as the weekend neared. I did everything I could to have a good night, and I am happy with the effort that I put in. I barely had like 15 min in me, but I would have been out of breath walking up a flight of stairs. Anyways, I salvaged what I could, and I still believe it was a good night for us. Starts were good, racing was good, but I had no extra to tie by any means. I’m going to get healthy this week, and I am looking forward going to Daytona this coming weekend. Thanks for all the fans. It is so awesome to race in packed stadiums. Thanks everyone for showing up for us.